


The Hunt

by Indig0



Series: DBH Rare Pairs Weeks [16]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fae, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Drug Use, Fantasy Horror, Loss of Humanity, M/M, Memory Loss, Regaining humanity, Wild Hunt, abuse mention, mild body horror, murder mention?, not quite
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-31
Updated: 2020-03-31
Packaged: 2021-02-28 16:26:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23410168
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Indig0/pseuds/Indig0
Summary: Everyone had heard the stories of bandits in the woods, but he’d never encountered any.  And only seen signs of small groups of travelers.The hoofbeats grew louder still, and he could hear yelling now and then.  Not angry yelling, he was familiar with that.  It sounded excited.  Hungry.  And there was loud, raucous laughter.There were stories of things other than bandits in the woods.  He’d always ignored them.HK ran.(DBH Rarepairs Week prompt:  Domestic Bliss/Fight or Flight)
Relationships: Shaolin Being | Carlos Ortiz's HK400 Android/Jerry
Series: DBH Rare Pairs Weeks [16]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1480529
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3





	The Hunt

Carlos Ortiz lived on the edge of the forest just out of town, and he didn’t leave his house much. There were a few bars where his money was still good, but usually he sent the young man who worked for him to pick up food and packages.

It was better than the foundling home he’d been in, HK had originally thought. It had more freedom, less supervision, and if he did his job right he was often left alone. Sometimes Mr. Ortiz was too high to know what was going on, and he’d thought that would work in his favor.

It didn’t. It just meant that even if he _did_ do his job right, Mr. Ortiz didn’t realize it. Didn’t care. Beat him anyway.

So most days he tried to stay out of the house as much as he could, even if it meant he’d be punished for it later.

It was the night of the new moon and he was taking his time getting back with a tightly-wrapped bag of glittering powder stashed in the sugar bag, along with the bread, cheese, apples, and sausage. He knew he’d pay for being late, but he knew at this point it didn’t matter. He could be completely obedient and cooperative, or he could hide and refuse to work. It was all the same.

The woods were oddly still, and looked unfamiliar on this strange dark night. Had he come to the big sycamore tree yet? Where was the berry bush that he sometimes took his lunch from when there was nothing else to eat? Or the large flat stone that marked the halfway point?

Suddenly he heard a noise. Was it a distant horn? Or a scream? …Probably just a bird. There was a large tree in the distance, probably the sycamore. He headed towards it.

There was another sound, and this time… this time it was definitely a horn. He stopped to listen. The birds were silent, but there was a noise gradually growing louder. Rushing water? No, some kind of rumbling…

Hoofbeats. Dozens, maybe hundreds. He started walking again, quickening his pace. Of course people rode by, passed through the woods all the time. But this sounded like a large group to be traveling so fast. And at night.

Everyone had heard the stories of bandits in the woods, but he’d never encountered any. And only seen signs of small groups of travelers.

The hoofbeats grew louder still, and he could hear yelling now and then. Not angry yelling, he was familiar with that. It sounded excited. Hungry. And there was loud, raucous laughter.

There were stories of things other than bandits in the woods. He’d always ignored them.

HK ran.

He crashed through the bushes, ran halfway into trees, and stumbled along when he stepped in holes, but years of looking out for himself had taught him to keep going no matter what. He didn’t think he could get back to Mr. Ortiz’s house, he wasn’t even sure where it was at this point. But if he could find a cave, or somewhere to hide…

Ahead, there was a small clearing. On the other side he saw a huge tree trunk. Not the sycamore, but maybe some kind of hawthorn tree. The horns and laughter and shouts and hoofbeats rang too close as he dashed out and leapt up the tree.

It was the most enormous tree he’d ever seen, probably at least half as wide as Mr. Ortiz’s house. The trunk was covered in knots and gashes and irregularities, and he used those to climb high up into the boughs. When the voices stopped right below he scrunched up on top of a broad limb with his back to the trunk and, tried hard to control his breathing.

“You run so fast!” a cheerful voice called into the still night. “It’s quite impressive!”

“I’ve never seen someone run as fast as you,” agreed another… or was it the same one? The voice sounded the same.

“It’s dark out tonight. We’re so lucky to have found you! Won’t you come down and say hello?”

“You’ve impressed us all this night. Won’t you share your name with us at least? It would be rude not to.” That was a different voice. HK kept his eyes squeezed shut and continued to breathe. Maybe they couldn’t climb. Maybe he could wait them out.

There was some shuffling movement below, some low murmuring. Then a scraping, scratching… someone was climbing. When he peeked down, there was definitely a shape slowly making its way up the tree.

He could stay still and probably die, or he could try to do something about it. He pulled his bag open and took stock of his options.

The first apple hurled right through the branches, and he heard a burst of laughter from below when it hit the ground.

“An appetizer, how thoughtful!” called the one different voice. “Come, eat with us. We wouldn’t harm you.”

The second apple hit a branch. The third one elicited a soft grunt.

“Such a waste,” murmured a smiling voice about halfway up the tree.

The last two apples flew wide of their mark. The wedge of cheese hit lightly and then fell. All he had left was the sausage and the bag of sugar with the other bag inside. He could try to beat the man (was it a man?) off with the sausage, or stomp on his fingers. Bludgeon him with the sugar bag…

He thought briefly of the other bag, what he might be able to do with it. But that was a step too far, even in times of desperation.

“We won’t hurt you.” The one climbing the tree had almost reached him. And it… he? was smiling. “Don’t be afraid.”

A pale hand grabbed the branch HK sat on, and he immediately attacked it with the sausage. When it didn’t do any good, he stomped out blindly.

“Ow!” the climber finally said… cheerfully. He had to be smiling. And he grabbed HK’s ankle.

HK cringed and scrambled back. He kicked out while he rifled through his bag. If Mr. Ortiz killed him later, he’d take that chance. If this did nothing… he’d be no worse-off than he was now. He yanked the little bag out, pulled it open, and pushed it in the thing’s face.

“Wh-“ The man-thing gasped and choked and coughed, but HK turned away, protecting his face from the cloud of dust it coughed up. He kicked out hard, and his worn boot cracked into what had to be a face. The creature lost its grip and fell with a garbled scream that sounded a bit like a laugh.

Something flew through the air, narrowly missing HK. Another shot through his thin jacket. Wooden arrows. He clung to the branch and tried to make himself small. They’d kill him, he had nothing left…

The arrows stopped. So did the laughter and calling from below. It was silent. After a moment, HK peered slowly over the edge. He couldn’t see anything in the dark, but the dark human-like shapes stood still now. Were they sitting? Crouching? He couldn’t see.

When he shifted, he realized that an arrow had gone through his bag, puncturing the sugar sack. Sugar was still spilling in a thin stream down to the ground. 

He couldn’t climb down, they were all still there, just standing around. For hours he clung to the branch until finally the first rays of the sun touched the leaves high above. The group below began to mill about again, with laughter and strained voices floating up to him.

“Such a clever one you are.” The one with the different voice seemed to sneer. HK thought he looked like a large man with dark hair. “Come back tomorrow night… we’d love to see more of you.”

The others giggled as they all mounted their horses _(not horses, not in the light)_ again and galloped off into the woods, their baying hounds leading the way.

HK waited until the sun was fully up before he slowly climbed down. There was a fairly young man lying on the ground with one arm bent at an awkward angle. There was something wrong with his face. He seemed to be grinning, even unconscious, but there was something wrong with the expression. HK quickly left the clearing. It took another couple of hours, but he finally made his way out and found himself not far from Mr. Ortiz’s house. He’d been through the woods hundreds of times, and they’d never been anything like that.

What followed was exactly what he’d expected. Mr. Ortiz had run out of drugs, so his mind was sharper and his movements more coordinated. And he was much more irritable. HK managed to crawl under the porch before he passed out and his blood began to clot.

When he woke up it was to the sight of bright eyes gleaming in the darkness. He jumped and scooted away, trying to ignore the pain.

“I’ve been waiting for you to wake.”

He knew the voice, it was the voice of most of his assailants from the night before. He fumbled around and found a rock.

“S-stay back,” he whispered.

“I won’t hurt you. I just need – you need to cross over, you see. Because I was left here. Now the balance is off. There has to be an exchange. Before nightfall.”

HK scooted back farther.

“May I have your name?” Teeth glittered in the dark.

Above them the porch creaked as Mr. Ortiz stepped out. HK stared, paralyzed with fear.

“I know you don’t want to stay here,” the creature said gently. “I can taste your fear. This isn’t a good place for you. You could leave it behind. All of it, and never look back.”

He shook his head hard, fighting to breathe through the panic that gripped him.

“It’s not so bad.” The creature’s voice was soft and wheedling, and always smiling. “I was afraid too at first. But it doesn’t hurt to cross over. You can leave behind all the troubles of the world. He’ll never hurt you again.”

“W-why… why don’t you want to go back, then?” HK breathed. “If it’s so good.”

The other was still for a moment. “I was left,” it finally said, a little quieter. “I was in this world before. There was pain then. There’s pain now, because of what you did. I’ve taken the blood of my master’s people into my body. I can’t go back.”

“Is… is that… what Red Ice is?” HK asked, too horrified to remember to keep his voice low.

“Get the fuck out here right now!” Mr. Ortiz roared from above and stomped the floorboards, and HK flinched back.

The creature’s eyes flicked upwards briefly. “There is… another option,” it whispered.

“Get up here you motherfucker, I’m gonna kick you into next week!” The man stomped again, and the old boards splintered a little. HK flinched, but the other did not. Instead his smile widened, and he crawled backwards, towards the lamp light. HK shook his head frantically, but the creature crawled into the light and HK saw the scratches and bruises, the way one arm hung limp, the unnatural grin his face was pulled into.

“Who the fuck are you?”

“You can call me Jerry! May I have your name?”

“The fuck are you doing under my fucking porch!? I’ll shoot you right through the head!”

“Terribly sorry, I was looking for someone. Someone else lives here, don’t they?”

“That lazy fucker ran off with my money…”

“Mmm… such a shame,” Jerry murmured. “I… actually, I can track him down for you. He hasn’t gone far.”

HK shrank back against the cinderblock foundation of the little house.

“You seen that ungrateful asshole!?”

“I can certainly help you out. I just need your name.”

“I’m not giving some random bastard creeping around under my house my name –“

“For paperwork,” Jerry cut him off. He sounded so polite and apologetic, but insistent. “To make things official. You understand.”

There was a reluctant grunt. “Carlos. Ortiz.”

“Thank you,” Jerry growled in a lower voice, and there was… HK had no idea how to describe the noise, the sensation, the sudden feeling of a gaping hole opening up.

There were more sounds that HK couldn’t quite make out. Were they words? Bird calls? Shrieks? He did hear Mr. Ortiz cry out, a sound that quickly grew more distant.

Then the noises seemed to stretch, and they abruptly stopped.

“You can come out now,” Jerry said, his voice back to its sweet tone. “Nothing to fear here.”

HK stayed where he was. Mr. Ortiz seemed to be… gone. And he still wasn’t sure what Jerry was.

A smiling face appeared from the edge of the porch. “I told you I used to live in this world, right? Not this part, I think. I only remember a little. The trees are different, everything’s different. This house is like nothing I’ve ever seen. …As I told him, you can call me Jerry. That’s what I’ve been called since… I left this world. All of us. There were a lot of us. Just me here, though.” He laughed a little, and it didn’t quite sound happy.

Slowly, HK edged backwards towards the other side of the porch. He didn’t feel safe coming out into the open, but it would be better than being trapped under there.

“Do you have a nickname or something I can call you? …Not your real name, please. That would… I think it would be best if you didn’t say that.” Jerry laughed, and it sounded a little uncomfortable.

“What do you want from me?” HK asked flatly.

Jerry stared at him from across the porch. In the light, HK could see dark scratches all over his neck and face. His mouth was stretched unnaturally wide.

“Where… where did he go?” HK breathed.

“Oh, he’s on the other side now. I wouldn’t worry about him, he can’t hurt you anymore. If he ever returns… it won’t be him. He won’t remember anything specific. He’ll be… Jerry, probably.” His grin was unnerving.

“What… are you still doing here, then?”

Jerry blinked, and looked around slowly before focusing back on HK. His eyes glowed faintly. “I’m no longer of this world,” he said softly. “And I can’t go back to the other. I have nowhere to go.”

They continued to stare at each other.

“Does your arm hurt?” HK asked quietly. It was still hanging limp.

“It’s excruciating!” Jerry replied, sounding very cheerful despite his words. “Everything hurts, but my arm’s probably the worst part.”

HK nodded slowly and stepped up on the porch, edging towards the door. “…You can’t come in unless I invite you, right?”

Jerry laughed. “No, that’s vampires, silly! I’m not a vampire.”

“Then what are you!?”

“A… just a fae creature. I used to be human. I think.”

HK paused in the doorway. “…There’s a lot of iron in the house. I could kill you. Easily.”

“I think you’re right. I’m not moving very fast right now.”

“Okay. Just – don’t forget that. I’ll do it.”

“I won’t forget!”

HK went into the house.

It always caused a little jolt of fear, but he pushed past that. Mr. Ortiz was gone, as good as dead.

He’d always kept the house clean, it was one of his jobs, but between his brief absence and Mr. Ortiz’s rage there was broken furniture and shattered pottery all over. There was some bread and butter in the kitchen, and he shakily cut one thick slice and buttered it… then another. He stuck the knife in his pocket and brought them outside. Jerry was sitting cross-legged on the ground now.

“Do you eat… regular food?”

Jerry looked up, his smile looking a little painful. “I don’t know.”

“Well… here.” He hesitated, then held one piece of bread by the crust and stretched as far as he could to offer it. Jerry watched for a moment before leaning forward to take it from him. He sniffed it, then took an experimental nibble. A strange look crossed his face pulling against his ever-present smile, and he devoured the bread and butter.

HK backed up and sank down on the porch, eating his more slowly. “Why did you follow me?”

“I didn’t know where else to go. I couldn’t go back – I did try. Habit, you know.”

“How did you find me?”

“Oh, you were easy to track. Your scent, your blood, the trail hadn’t gone cold. Even with the fae blood in me, my senses aren’t completely gone.”

“Will… the others be back?”

“Not any time soon. Not with the moon waxing.”

“Will you… be able to go back when the drug clears out of you system?”

His face twitched. “I don’t know. I… I already sent another across. It would cause… trouble if I was able to go back now, I think.”

“Why did you do that? To him?” HK asked quietly.

“I… I was made to hunt, to… entice. To fill the needs of the court and my master. You were our target last night, but you bested us.” He paused, licking his lips for any traces of crumbs. “He hurt you. You feared him. Now that can stop.”

HK stared at Jerry. It was so hard to read his expression beyond the unnatural smile and the cheerful voice. “Why, though?”

Jerry stared back at him. “I… had to do something,” he said quietly. “Someone had to cross over. I couldn’t go back. I could have… tried to send you. I think I could have, this close. I could have asked him for your name. But I wanted him… gone.”

“Me too,” HK whispered, slumping down. He’d eaten most of his piece of bread, but suddenly wasn’t hungry anymore. He offered it to Jerry, whose eyes glittered. It was gobbled up as soon as the creature took it. The two sat quietly for a while, listening to the birds around them.

“Do you… hunt here often?” HK finally asked.

“Sometimes. Not always in these woods, though.”

“I – after you fell, they shot arrows at me. But then… they stopped, and all just… stood around for hours, and I don’t know why.”

“I saw what you did, was it not intentional? All the sugar on the ground?”

“What? What do you mean?”

“If you spill salt or sugar… any small object, really… any fae must stop to count the grains. …Which was difficult in the forest, let me tell you! I had to do it myself when I woke.”

“Why?” HK asked. 

Jerry shrugged. “There are rules. Compulsions. It’s… the way we are.”

“But you… you wouldn’t have to do that anymore, would you? You’re not part of that, you can’t go back.”

“Oh no, I… What I was, I am, and that doesn’t change. I still fall prey to the ways of the fae.”

“…You were human once, though,” HK said softly. “Right? Before you were fae.”

“I think so. I may have been.”

HK nodded slowly. “So… like you said. What you were, you are, and that… doesn’t change.”

“It’s been… I don’t know how long,” Jerry breathed. “A very long time. I have no memories of humanity.”

“That doesn’t mean it’s not there. You ate regular food. You… helped me when you didn’t have to.” He paused, then slowly got to his feet. “I… I’m going to stay here. Because I don’t have anywhere else to go. I have a knife, you know. And lots of other iron.”

“I know, I can feel it,” Jerry whispered.

“…And there’s not much food, I threw it all at you. But… if you want to stay…” HK trailed off, looking at the fae creature. His smile looked uncomfortable. “I – I don’t have a real name to give you. I was only given two letters when I was found as a child. Does that count?”

“No. A nickname can’t trap you.”

“HK. …Found in the hedge, halfway up the knoll on the other side of town.”

Something changed in Jerry’s face. “HK,” he repeated softly. “The hedge on the knoll.”

“…Right. So… if you want to stay… you can call me that.”

“I’m deeply honored,” Jerry murmured. “You may call me Jerry. All of us shared that name.”

“You can pick a different one now, can’t you?”

Jerry’s eyes widened. “A… a different… No. No, I can’t, of course not. …No.”

“All right. I was thinking I might.” HK went into the house and put the kettle on the stove, stoking the fire. He prepared some willowbark tea, and when he looked up Jerry stood outside the door watching him.

“There’s no sugar, so it’s going to be bitter, but this tea should help the pain,” HK said quietly. He cleared some debris and stretched a thin blanket out on the floor. “I’ll clean this up… later.”

“It’s terrible in here,” Jerry murmured, still peering through the door. “Angry and fearful and… hungry.”

“You… can feel all that?”

“As clear as sunlight, or your voice, or anything else.”

“Well… you don’t have to stay. I wouldn’t, if I had anywhere else to go.”

“In time, if it absorbs better things… it can change,” Jerry whispered. “Get better.”

HK looked out at the strange fae man, and carefully brought two mugs of tea to the blanket. “Come sit down,” he invited, though it made his blood run cold briefly.

Jerry stared at him, at the blanket and the tea, an offering of safety in the ruin of the house. And slowly he stepped across the threshold, through the room, to sink down slowly across from HK. His hands trembled a little as he lifted the cup, and he had trouble drinking without spilling. They both drank slowly, watching each other with growing curiosity and shrinking fear.

In the days that followed, HK cleaned up the house and got rid of as much as he could afford to. He found a little money stashed away and started making bread to sell. Jerry watched everything, and began to help when he could. Both of them hurt all over for a long time, and Jerry’s arm would never work again, but they fell into a comfortable routine. They woke early, made dough, and set it to rise while they made their own breakfast. HK was the better cook, but Jerry was learning. After a couple hours they added more flour and baked loaves and twists and rolls, and then HK brought them to town to sell. Jerry usually stayed at home because his face didn’t look quite human, but sometimes if they went back after dark he could walk the streets with a scarf pulled up around his head.

At night they would make a fire and share tea – the bitter willowbark at first, but after a while a plain black tea with a little sugar. Then a lavender chamomile blend with honey. Neither had many happy stories they remembered, but they would talk, or read, or simply stare into the fire until exhaustion claimed them.

Sometimes HK would wake up on a pitch black night to find Jerry standing by the window. Far in the distance, a horn sounded.

“Are you… all right here?” HK asked one day.

“I’m doing well, thank you!” Jerry smiled, and it did seem more sincere now.

“I mean… you’re not in pain anymore?”

“…Not as much these days. I… that was part of how I was made,” Jerry explained quietly. “It makes me… easier to command.”

HK frowned and shuffled a little closer. “Is there anything I can do?”

The unnatural smile softened even more. “You’ve done so much. It – it’s all… faded now. Pain isn’t all there is. I hardly think about it anymore.”

“Jerry, are you… happy here?”

“Happy?” Jerry blinked. His eyes glowed a little, even in the daylight. “That’s something I wasn’t made to be, but I believe I’ve found it. Here. Yes, I’m happy.”

“I’ve seen you at night. Looking out the window. When… when the Hunt is out.”

Jerry’s face went blank behind the smile. “…Yes?”

“You always watch for them. Are you waiting? Do you… think about going back?”

“I’ve told you I can’t.”

“But do you want to?”

Jerry’s face twisted and twitched, and he turned away. “They will always be out there,” he murmured. “Even if I kept myself locked in a cave, even if I crossed the ocean, even if I… I think even if I died, they would be there somehow. It’s a part of me. I feel it sing in my blood, I feel the call even now.”

HK frowned.

“…But want? It’s not… it’s not a matter of want. Need? No, not that either.” He waved his hand vaguely. “Compulsion, maybe. Or – just knowledge. A call, like I said. That it is there, and I am part of it. It’s hard to explain.” He stared off in the distance, the smile hanging awkwardly on his face. “If I could be rid of it… that would be a want,” he murmured softly. “If I could… really leave behind the… agony, the mindless terror, the instant obedience and… you must know, that was… all there was to me then. The Hunt, and obeying the Master of the Hunt. When he turned to me and told me to fetch you down from the tree that night, I knew anticipation and the need to obey. Not just the desire, but the… physical necessity. There was no possibility of denying it, no thought of… of anything else. I ran, I hunted, I obeyed. I was part of the Hunt, a piece of the whole, nothing more. There was no… I, no me, there was… Jerry was a unit, it was all of us. We were all fear and pain and smiles and need to follow commands. Nothing else.”

HK stared at him.

“And here… it’s not like that. Jerry is… just me, and there’s still fear and pain, but… it’s so much… less. There’s… it’s warmer, the sharp edges are gone. I… if I knew happiness long ago, I don’t remember it, but… this is it, I think. Having a safe place to go to. Sitting and talking and… having enough to eat, and being warm.” He nodded slowly but decisively. “I’m happy here. With you.”

Hesitantly, HK put a hand over Jerry’s. The fae man looked down at it.

“When I hear the Hunt, I have to look,” he said quietly, eyes never rising from the darker hand covering his pale one. “I have to watch. They don’t leave the forest, it’s another of their rules. That’s how I knew I’d been cut off from them. …But I have to keep watch, just in case. If they tried to take you again… I would fight them. I would give my life – and it would come to that, because I know I couldn’t win. But maybe you would have time to get away. I won’t let them take you, and do to you what was done to me.”

HK shivered. He scooted a little closer and leaned into Jerry’s side.

“I will keep you safe,” Jerry whispered.

HK squeezed his hand gently. “…We’ll both fight them, then,” he murmured.

“You can’t –“

“Neither can you,” he cut Jerry off. “You said yourself that you would die trying, that you couldn’t win against them. But I did once. And I’d do better with your help. We just need to prepare.”

“There’s no preparing,” Jerry whispered. “There is the chase, the stand, and the kill.”

“Not if we’re ready for them,” HK insisted. “Carry some sugar with you, so you can spill it. I’ll keep a knife on me. There’s more iron and stuff around the house. Silver too, right?”

Jerry nodded doubtfully. HK smiled a little.

“We’ll stay out of the forest. Especially at night. But we’ll be ready if they ever come out. You can distract them, and I’ll fight them off. We don’t have to run. This… this is our home. We don’t have to be afraid of them here.”

Jerry stared at him as if seeing him for the first time. “I think… I’ll always be… afraid,” he confessed softly.

“…I think I will, too,” HK admitted. “But we can fight them off. We can be safe here, protect each other. Right?”

“I… I don’t know…”

“What do you want?” HK asked, moving his hand to squeeze Jerry’s shoulder gently.

Jerry turned to him. His face was stretched painfully and his eyes glowed a slightly mismatched golden brown. But up close, his expression held a wistful longing, something strong and sad and maybe a little hopeful. “I want… to stay here,” he breathed. “I want this, just this, to bake bread and drink tea and sit with you. I want to touch your hand and know we’re… safe.”

“That… I can’t think of anything better,” HK murmured, leaning in closer. “…And we can save up some money and try to move across town. Or farther. Away from the forest. …Away from this house.” HK slid an arm carefully around Jerry’s waist – he was always cautious of anything that might cause him pain or discomfort. But Jerry crumpled into his side with a soft, high sound from his throat.

“I’m sorry… about before,” Jerry whispered. “Hurting you. Scaring you.”

“It wasn’t you, it was… what they made.”

“That’s all I am. I have nothing from before.”

HK shook his head, lightly running his fingers through Jerry’s hair. “You’re more now. You’re making yourself more. You’re Jerry, just one, and you like salty things more than sweets, and you hum when you’re working, and you like to make fruit tarts that don’t have enough sugar, and you’d do anything to protect what matters to you. They didn’t make that. That’s you.”

There was another soft sound, this time almost like a sob. “I want to stay. I want this. I want to stay with you.”

“Stay,” HK murmured. “I want you to stay. I was never happy before either. But now, with you… I am.”

“So am I,” whispered Jerry, and beneath the stretched smile on his skin, beneath the tears in his eyes, the warmth of a real smile glowed through.


End file.
